For Immediate Release
Contact: Heather Masterton
Chief Strategic Engagement Officer
YWCA Glendale and Pasadena
P 585.687.8319 | heathermasterton@ywcagp.org

YWCA Glendale and Pasadena Advocates for the Adoption of Data-Driven Policing Policy Recommendations to Promote Equity and Public Safety in Glendale on the One Year Anniversary of the Historic Sundown Town Resolution Passage

Proposed Policy Recommendations Were Drafted by the Coalition for an Anti-Racist Glendale In Response to Key Findings in Occidental College’s report, Glendale Arrests: Prevalence, Racial Disparities, and Implications, Analysis of Arrests From 2011 to 2019 in Glendale, CA.

Glendale, CA, Sept. 15, 2021 –– One year ago, the City of Glendale made history in passing a Sundown Town Resolution, the first in the State and the third in the nation, acknowledging and apologizing for the century-long exclusionary practices that prohibited African Americans from residing and prospering in the City of Glendale. One year later, the City has been presented with policing data that demonstrates the continued and disparate impacts of arrest policies on people of color in Glendale. These impacts do not reflect our City’s commitment through the resolution to creating an equitable and just city that maximizes public safety and provides fair and equal treatment to all members of the community, and warrants action as articulated in the resolution for The City of Glendale to review and revise its policies, procedures, ordinances, values, goals and missions, through an anti-racism lens to foster an unbiased and inclusive environment that is free from discrimination and harassment toward any person or group.

YWCA is an organization who values and relies on effective law enforcement in the work that we do and this allows us to approach issues of policing reform from a unique vantage point. We both see the moral imperative for change demanded in this moment and recognize the critical role that law enforcement so often plays in protecting women and children from domestic and sexual violence. We see the ways in which Black women and other women of color are criminalized, profiled, and harmed by systems, laws, and policies that are supposed to provide support and protection—and at the same time we rely on those very same systems, laws, and policies to aid so many of the more than 2,000 women, children, and families that we serve each year.

We welcome the opportunity to use the findings from Occidental College’s report and the policy recommendations drafted by the Coalition for an Anti-Racist Glendale as we work with Glendale City leaders, the Glendale Police Department, and communities directly impacted by policing policies and practices in Glendale. Together, we can enhance public safety by reducing racial bias in policing and by building trust between Glendale communities and the officers employed to protect and serve them. We are committed to the work needed to move our City onto the path of transparency, accountability, and respect for all Glendale residents’ dignity and constitutional rights. When we do that, Glendale’s police department will be stronger, and the trust between its police officers and civilians will be more durable.

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